Welcome to the Conservation Stewards Network

Page Image

Page Content

The Conservation Stewards Program (CSP) bridges conservation and development through innovativeconservation agreements developed in partnership with communities and others who own or rely on natural resources.

Conservation agreements represent a novel approach that brings social benefits to local parties in return for an active role in conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services and the many natural benefits these provide to people.

We work together with local resource users who agree to protect priority habitats and ecosystem services in exchange for a steady stream of structured compensation from conservationists or other investors. A negotiated agreement produces visible and measurable conservation outcomes that result from the actions of resource users, and fosters improved human well-being by directing compensation to investments identified by resource users as most beneficial to them.

CSP has developed a “model” to structure the development and implementation of conservation agreements. has been designed to structure this systematic approach. CSP’s model uses a step-by-step approach that provides guidance to practitioners who use conservation agreements. It is the soul of the program and the organizing principle of our Learning Network.

For your benefit we have listed all the conservation agreements to date in the portfolio section. You can search for conservation agreements that are relevant to you based on the phase they are in, the continent or country they are located in or the major threats they tackle. You can find relevant documentation, methodologies and case studies for each step of the model. We have included a separate section on the lessons we have learned to date, where you can find information of the learning network meetings that we had so far (China 2007, Ecuador 2008 and Guatemala 2009) and assessments that have been carried out.

A novel feature of this learning portal is thediscussion boardwhere you can interact directly with your colleagues all over the world. Any questions or issues you want to raise can be posted on this board. Please feel free to participate in discussions at your convenience!